Proverb close to these two animals (7)
I believe the answer is:
epigram
'proverb' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'close to these two animals' is the wordplay.
'two animals' can mean two substitutions for 'animal'.
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close of something is the end).
'animal' becomes 'pig' (pigs are animals).
'animal' becomes 'ram' (a male sheep).
The final letter of 'these' is 'e'.
'e'+'pig'+'ram'='EPIGRAM'
(Other definitions for epigram that I've seen before include "Pithy remark - grim ape (anag)" , "Brief witticism" , "Witty, paradoxical remark" , "Witticism - adage" , "Old chestnut" .)